The trip to Stoner ended in defeat, as a youthful Wooburn side were well beaten by a strong Stoner team. The main talking point of the match once again involved Dave Small, but more of that later.
The afternoon began in traditional style, with a number of the Narkovians tackling the huge Ploughmans served up at \The Harrow\ public house. Fortunately for those brave souls, skipper Jeff Morris won the toss and sensibly elected to bat first.
The innings started briskly with 12 coming from the second over, but the bowlers then gained the upper hand, Green reeling off five successive maidens in an accurate opening spell. James White was the first Wooburn casualty, failing to keep down a ball that stopped on him. Ben Sturgess, fresh from his Old Narks heroics, hit the ball cleanly in making 10, before being bowled by one that cut back.
Stoner captain, Derek Roberts, was now into the attack, tempting the batsmen with his well flighted leg breaks. The temptation was too much for Chris Hall, and he was quickly followed by opener Rob Smith to leave Wooburn rocking on 50-4. A period of consolidation was required, but Smally had other ideas. The Wooburn all-rounder called his skipper for a very sharp, possibly suicidal, single which saw Jeff Morris comfortably run out at the bowlers end. 52-5, and the captain was not happy.
Smally quickly put the incident behind him, as managed to continue as though it had never taken place. Alan Cuthbert, after a couple of fine shots, hit a low full toss straight to mid wicket, leaving the way clear for Saturday\s hero, Martin Tennant, to effect the recovery. Tennant and Small went on the attack in compiling a stand of 78 in just 34 minutes. Chubbs eventually miscued to mid on for 48, while Smally (40) slashed to cover soon after. A spirited effort from the youngsters down the order, pushed the total up to 174 all out.
The Stoner innings started slowly, but quickly gained momentum, with all the bowlers suffering. Ben Sturgess and Russell Dale both bowled well and could have taken early wickets, but the batsmen survived and went on to dominate. Once they were in, the bowlers were left with no margin of error, and the boundaries began to come thick and faster.
The first wicket fell to Adam Morris, but not before Perigo and Jones had added a rapid 88 for the first wicket. Dave Small, after refusing to field fine leg at both ends, then bowled with spirit, producing an excellent yorker to remove Perigo. Batey then took charge, in company with Ben Roberts, seeing the home team to victory with plenty of time to spare. Batey passed fifty, with six fours and three big sixes, while Roberts helped himself to 28.
A heavy defeat for the Narks, but their first at Stoner since 1998, and despite the result an entertaining day was had by all.
